#OfficeEnvy: Exploring Ginkgo Bioworks’ Deluxe Lab Space

July 9, 2019

Large red crates, stacked to form an archway, welcome visitors to 27 Drydock Avenue. Located in Boston’s Seaport district, the building is home to Ginkgo Bioworks, a biological engineering startup that calls itself the “organism company.”

This is not a far-fetched claim: over the years since its founding in 2009, Ginkgo has brought its expertise of synthetic biology to a variety of different industries, including sustainable agriculture, cannabis, fragrance, and more. The company has been at its nearly 100,000 square foot office and lab space since April 2012, three years after its founding. At the heart of its operations are Ginkgo’s four labs, or “foundries”, as Gingko calls them.

The foundries are open, bright white spaces, stocked with all the equipment necessary for genetic modification. The first lab, Bioworks S1, designed by Olson Lewis, is focused around everything related to strain engineering. Bioworks S2 is an expansion of S1, while 3 and 4 are for DNA Synthesis and Mammalian cells specifically. Labs 2-4 were designed by Studio Troika.

All labs’ walls are bright white, a decision that was purposefully made to make the spaces look clean, and to inspire energy, rather than a darker color that could seem dreary in comparison. Large glass windows frame the labs, making them easy to see from the hallways and offices.